Automatic pinion cutting machine



Dec. 29, 1953 A. BECHLER 2,664,032

AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE Filed April 4, 1951 3 Shegts-Sheet l in l i ao i i? I v 73 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEY AN DEE BECHLEE.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 4, 1951 mvzwroz Amazes BEcH 1.5g.

7 XML ATTO NEY Dec. 29, 1953 A. BECHLER AUTOMATIC PINION CUTTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 4, 1951 INVENTOE AN 0122: BECHLER ATTORN EY.

i atented Dec. 29, 1953 UNITED. PATENT OFFICE Claims priority, applicatidnsfi'it'zerland Aprilf15, 1950 anisms.

chine proper.

Machines of this kind are well known in theprier art with which I am familiar. Theyhave the disadvantage that theworkfeedingappadisadvantage of the known machines.

Another object of my invention is toprovide a wholly automatic pinion cutting machine which i is cheap in construction and which: can easily 1 be mounted and dismounted.

Still other objects will appear in the -'-follow-- ing description of a preferred embodiment of the pinion cutting machine of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the pinion cutting machine,

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a side View of the indexing device and of certain other control devices forming :part of the machine,

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational View of the machine, Fig. 5 shows the work zfeeding apparatusae:

seen from below, and

Fig. 6 is. an elevational, partly'sectional view:

of the work feedingapparatus.

In the drawings certain parts have not been shown in some figures'and certainotherzparts have been omitted in some other figures, to avoid confusion. Like parts are designated: by the" same reference numerals in all figures of the drawing.

The pinion cutting machine representedinthe drawings comprises a work feeding apparatus the 10 ratus is arranged beside the cutting --machine== proper and causes a serious loss ci -space or area r available in the work-shop for setting up'a'num I ber of such machines. Accordingly it is the main" object of this invention to do awaywith this casing i of which is constituted by a' partitio'ned frame sufficiently stiff to support ca casing z which is that of the pinion cutting machine;

proper. Casing 2 is provided with a-longitudinally extending guideway 3 (Fig; 3) for-a'longi tudinal slide 3 supporting abearing or 'tails'tock 5 and having formed on it a guideway 'liFigs l) extending transversally-to. the guideway=3.- An

axle or spindle 6 having a dead centre is mount tending axle 9 for a swinging support l0. A-tool spindle l I is rotatablymounted in the-freeend of thisswingingsupport it, It carries at one end a gear milling cutteriz'and at its other end a pulley i3 forming part of means for driving;i.- e. rotating, the gear cutter.

Asupport i ifixedly rnounted-oncasi-ng 2 con-* stitutes a bearing for ashaft ie carrying" atone end-a disc 15 for indexing the'work piece-1T mountedon centres between this shaft l5 and-the tailt'sock spindle 6.- v

The arrangement ofthe several control mechanisms-forming part ofthe pinion-cutting-ma-" chine proper and of the work feeding'apparatus will 'ncw'he described and the operation-of these" mechanisms will be explained at the same-time In the drawings, the automatic pinion cutting machineis represented in its working state. The advance of the rotating cutter i2 is obtained by longitudinally'moving the slid t by means of a bell-shaped cam it rigidly mounted on a hori--- zontal, longitudinally extending camshaft i 9'-rotatably mounted in casing 2.- The bell-shaped cam 18 "acts upon a finger 2E3 fixed to the slide 4. A tension spring 21 attached to this slide '4 and 'tothecasing 2 affords continuous engagement of the finger 2G with thecontrolsurface of the bell-shaped cami8.-- Hence, the latter controlsthe advance as well as the returnmovement of-the cutter l2.

The means for rotating thecamshaft Iiicomprise a worm gearing 22,23; The worm 22 is rigidlyconnected, or made in one piece, with'a transversallyextending shaft 24. A claw clutch'- is provided having its driven part is -slidablyf keyedto one end of shaft 2i,whi1st the driving part is loosely mounted on'this shaft and made in onepiecewitha pulley-2t of a belt drive.

When the cutter it has reached the end of its cuttingstroke; the finger 26 engages the highest point of the control surface of the bell-shaped cam I8 and a cam disc 21' fixed to camshaft ld" lifts the swinging support it together withthe cutterl2 by means of a rod 25. When the cutter I2 is lifted,the finger 29 slides-along *the'de scending portion ofthecam i8 and thespring 2| returns the slide d togetherwiththetransversal slided-the'swinging support it and the cutter l2 to the initial postion "for starting an other cutting stroke. When this initial" position? isreached,'the rod 28 engages a descending portion of'cam disc 2? and the swinging supporttlfl is lowered-together with the cutter IZso that the latter "isreadyto begin the following cutting stroke. Duringthis-return stroke of the cutter l2 a cam 29 on camshaft l9 produces indexing of the work piece H. To this end, the cam 29 acts upon a cam lever 30 carrying a pawl 3| which engages the toothed periphery 33 of the indexing disc I6 due to the action of a tension spring 32 attached to the pawl and to the cam lever 3|]. The finger 20 now engages the ascending portion of the bell-shaped cam H3 and cutting of another indentation in the work piece H is thus started.

When all indentations are cut in the work piece I! and when cam disc 29 acts once more to index the work piece by means of members 30, 3| and IS, a cam disc 34 rigidly connected, or made in one piece, with the indexing disc l6 rocks a lever 35. This lever acts upon a hand lever 36 having a wedge portion 57. Hand lever 36 is connected with a lever 38 by means of a link 33 and with one arm of a bell crank 4| by means of a rod 40. The other arm of the bell crank Al is fitted with a finger 42 engaging a peripherical groove 43 of clutch member The wedge portion 31 cooperates with a wedge 44 facing the wedge 31 and having a trunk 45 engaged by a compression spring 46. This arrangement causes the levers 36, 39 and 4| to be (Fig. 5) engaging an annular groove of the driven part 53 of a claw clutch, this driven part being axially slidably keyed on a camshaft 5| forming part of the work feeding apparatus. When the lever 68 is rocked as mentioned hereabove, the

clutch part engages a counterpart 52 which is loosely mounted on camshaft 5| and made in one piece with a worm gear engaging a worm 53. This worm is fixed on, or made in one piece with a transversally extending drive shaft 54 rotatably mounted on casing i and rotated by means of a belt drive comprising the pulley 55 fixed to one end of the shaft 54. The camshaft 5| is rotated when clutch 50, 52 is engaged.

The camshaft 5| of the work feeding apparatus is fitted with a bell-shaped cam 56 adapted for cooperation with a finger 5i fixed to one arm of a lever 58 the other, forked arm of which is engaged by a finger 59 (Figs. 1 and 3) fixed to one end of a lever 89. This lever is pivoted on casing 2 at 6|. 62 engaging an annular groove provided at the rear end of the tailstock spindle 6. When camshaft 5| starts rotating, the cam 58 moves this tailstock spindle 6 rearwardly (towards the right in Fig. l) by means of the just described lever assembly and against the action of a tension spring 63 attached to the tailstock 5. On being retracted, the tailstock spindle leaves the work piece I! which thus is allowed to fall into a box not shown. At the same time a cam disc 64 also fixed to camshaft 5i rocks a cam lever 55 pivoted on an axle 66 and connected to a bell crank 68 by means of a rod 61. The bell crank 68 has a forked arm which is engaged by a pin 69 fixed to the transversal slide 8. Hence, this slide 8 and the swinging support H) are moved together with the cutter l2 which is thus carried away from its working plane. Thereafter a cam disc 10 also fixed to camshaft 5| acts upon a cam lever mounted on the axle 66 at one side of cam lever Its other end is provided with a finger 65. On being rocked, cam lever 1| acts upon a rod 12 which in turn acts upon a bell crank 13 pivoted at 14 on a fixed part 15 of the machine and provided with a forked end which is engaged by a pin 16 fixed to a feeder member or ram 1! mounted for sliding movement in a horizontal, transversal direction. This feeder member '11 thereby brings another blank or work piece H to the vertical work plane extending through the axes of the work-piece supporting members 6 and I5. When the blank has reached this position, the cam follower roller on the lever ll engages the circular outer portion of cam 10, maintaining the position of the feeder I1. Thereupon, the finger 51 glides over the descending portion of the bell-shaped cam 56 and permits the spring 63 to bring the tailstock spindle 6 back to a position in which it engages the newly fed work piece I! which is then held between centres and occupies what may be called the work station. Thereupon the cam 10 is disengaged from the cam lever H and feeder 11 returns to its initial or rest position owing to the action of a spring 18. When this position is reached, another blank or work piece I1 is permitted to fall from the magazine 19 fixed to casing 2, into a recess provided at the fore-end of the feeder 11. At the same time cam. 54 disengages from lever 65, permitting a spring to bring the transversal slide 8, the swinging support In and the cutter |2 to their respective initial position. Immediately afterwards a bell-shaped cam 8| fixed to camshaft 5| acts upon a lever 82, rocking it in clockwise direction in Fig. 4. This lever acts upon the hand lever 36 by means of a set screw 83 adjustably fixed to the latter. As soon as hand lever 36 has travelled slightly over its dead centre position, it is caused to continue this movement, owing to the already described action of the wedges 31 and 44 and of spring 48. This movement of the hand lever 36 causes the actuation of the clutch 25, 26 by means of the rod 40, of the bell crank 4| and of finger 42 engaging the groove of clutch part 25. Hence, the camshaft I9 starts rotating. The movement of hand lever 38 also causes a rocking movement of lever 41 through the link 38 and the lever 39. However, the rocking of lever 41 is not obtained in a positive manner, because lever 41, operatively connected to lever 48 by means of finger 88 and of a spring 84, is yieldingly connected to lever 39. At first, a finger 85 provided on lever 41 engages a lobe of a bell-shaped cam 86 fixed on camshaft 5|. When the shaft 5| and cam 86 have rotated through a further fraction of one revolution, the finger 85 sliding over the descending portion of cam 86, the levers 4'1 and 42 can follow the movement of lever 39. Thereupon finger 49 disengages the clutch part 50 from the driving clutch part 52 in order to stop the camshaft 5| of the work feeding apparatus after it has made one revolution. As has already been mentioned, the camshaft |9 has already started rotating and controls the cutting operations. Camshaft |9 rotating and camshaft 5| being stopped, the working cycle is completea and another cycle is started.

As is clearly shown in the drawings, certain of the longitudinally and transversely extending partition walls of the frame constituting the casing of the work feeding apparatus are adapted as bearings for revolving parts such as the rotary camshaft 5| and the pivoting axle 66 of the work feeding apparatus. This arrangement facilitates mounting and dismounting of the machine, because casing 2 and the parts mounted thereon may be removed by merely unscrewing a few screws 8'! which are used to normally fix casing 2 to casing I.

It should be noted that the representation is a rather diagrammatic one and that various changes of the shape and arrangement of the parts could be resorted to Without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. An automatic pinion cutting machine comprising in combination, a first casing, means mounted on said first casing for supporting a work piece at a work station, rotary tool supporting means movably mounted on said first casing for performing advance and return movements of the tool relatively to said work piece supporting means, a first camshaft mounted on said first casing, indexing means comprising a cam on said first camshaft for indexing the work piece, mechanisms comprising further cams on said first camshaft for effecting advance and return movements of said tool supporting means, a second casing disposed beneath said first casing and removably connected thereto, a second camshaft rotatably mounted on said second casing and arranged beneath said first camshaft, an actuating mechanism including a cam on said second camshaft for actuating said work piece supporting means for releasing a workpiece and for subsequently engaging another work piece, a magazine fixed to said first casing and adapted to hold a plurality of work piece blanks, a work piece feeder mechanism connected with for timing by said actuating mechanism and including a cam on said second camshaft; first drive means for driving said first camshaft, said first drive means comprising a first clutch, second drive means for driving said second camshaft, said second drive means comprising a second clutch, clutch actuating means comprising a cam connected with said indexing means for engaging said second clutch and subsequently releasing said first clutch when the work piece has been indexed through one complete revolution and comprising cam means on said second camshaft, for engaging said first clutch and releasing said second clutch when said second camshaft has made one revolution.

2. An automatic pinion cutting machine comprising in combination, means for supporting a work piece at a work station, movable rotary tool supporting means mounted on said first casing for performing advance and return movements of the tool relatively to said work piece supporting means, a first camshaft, indexing means comprising a cam on said first camshaft for indexing the work piece, mechanisms comprising further cams on said first camshaft for effecting advance and return movements of said tool supporting means, a second camshaft arranged beneath said first camshaft, an actuating mechanism including a cam on said second camshaft for actuating said work piece supporting means for releasing a work piece and for subsequently engaging another work piece, a magazine adapted to hold a plurality of work piece blanks, a work piece feeder mechanism connected with for timing by said actuating mechanism and including a cam on said second camshaft; first drive means for driving said first camshaft, said first drive means comprising a first clutch, second drive means for driving said second camshaft, said second drive means comprising a second clutch, clutch actuating means comprising a cam connected with said indexing means for engaging said second clutch and subsequently releasing said first clutch when the work piece has been indexed through one complete revolution and comprising cam means on said second camshaft, for engaging said first clutch and releasing said second clutch when said second camshaft has made one revolution.

ANDRE BECHLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 380,499 L'eman Apr. 3, 1888 432,791 Church July 22, 1890 476,953 Church June 14, 1892 485,410 Gill Nov. 1, 1892 2,365,746 Connell Dec. 26, 1944 

